1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of illuminated optic fibers used for decoration.
2) Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art that optic fibers are advantageously used in the telecommunications industry to transfer data over long distances. In these applications, photons (making up light) encoded with data are fed into one end of an optic fiber, travel inside the optic fiber and are received at the other end for decoding. One advantage of using fiber optics in telecommunication applications is that optic fibers provide low-loss data transfer, i.e. the signal may travel very long distances with very little attenuation.
An artistic application of optic fiber technology is to use the low-loss light transportation characteristics of the optic fibers in decorations. In this application, light is fed into a first end of the optic fiber, which creates a pinpoint of light at the other end (free end). When using a number of optic fibers, one may create beautiful decorations by the many pinpoints of light generated at the fibers' free end. A good example of this application is the optic fiber Christmas tree available from a plurality of vendors including ASA Information Management. In an optic fiber Christmas tree, the free end of the optical fibers are distributed over the entire tree. The resulting pinpoints of light resemble tiny Christmas lights. The result is beautiful, many will agree, especially when several light sources feed differently colored light to different fibers, and when the light sources vary in light intensity with time. The website http://artificial-christmas-tree.com/ available on Jul. 29, 2005 provides information on a plurality of fiber optic Christmas trees created by ASA Information Management.
Also well known in the art is the tradition of wrapping gifts in beautifully colored paper and to affix a ribbon, a bow and/or a star bow thereto in order to decorate them and to stimulate the imagination of the ones the gifts are destined to. A star bow gives an interesting appearance to a wrapped present due to the way a ribbon is twisted and turned to form it. Sometimes, the ribbon used for the decorative item is made of a light reflecting material so the ribbon appears to sparkle when moved in front of a light source.
Bows and ribbons cannot be seen in the dark. The gift does not seem as attractive when the lights are out during, for example, the traditional “blowing out the candles” moment at a birthday celebration or during Christmas Eve when Santa Claus has just dropped the gifts at the foot of the Christmas tree.
Also well known in the art are icicle lights used to decorate one's home. Hanging from eaves, gutters, railings or fences, these dangling strings shimmer with festivity. The icicle light usually comes in strands eight to twelve feet long. Like normal Christmas lights, they are on one strand, but then off of the strand come evenly spaced “icicles” that look beautiful when hung correctly. The icicle part of the lights hangs freely, but the main strand is affixed to the home. The Christmas lights at the end of the icicles are little bulbs.
There is a need to always go further in the field of decorations, to make a decoration lovelier than what has ever been seen.